I worked as a government viticultural scientist in New Zealand in the 1980s in the early stages of growth of the present sector.

Wine fermenters come in all shapes and sizes. From stainless steel giants, to French or American oak barrels and German Fuders.

It was good to see many of our members take the opportunity to attend recent roadshows held by Rural Contractors NZ nationwide last month.

Having recently taken the Manitou telehandler franchise in Waikato to service their mostly dairy focused customer base, Giltrap Agrizone saw a need for high capacity attachments to exploit the high capacities of these machines.

If you’ve made the trip south on SH1 from Christchurch, and passed through Hinds, you can’t have failed to notice the busy factory making bright red farm machinery.

Despite great cow and pasture condition in spring, Lincoln University dairy farm’s six-week in-calf rate slumped from 78% last year to 72% this year.

Do you know how docks, thistles and dandelions differ in their ability to regrow? Or from how deep particular weed species germinate? Or what are the alternative hosts for the pests that try to demolish your crops?

Budget 2015 is, I believe, one of the best for the primary sector since National has been in government. 

The Hound knows that the Greens hate farming about as much as they hate cars.

Your old mate notes that for the last few weeks the Australian-owned, controlled and managed so-called NZ Farmer rag has been touting the fact on its front page that it was a finalist in the ‘community newspaper’ category at the recent Canon media awards.